US STOCKS-Wall St ends higher on vaccine bets, Goldman results

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* Goldman Sachs rises as trading revenue doubles
* Energy, industrial, financial stocks among leaders

(Updates to close)
By Noel Randewich
July 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on Wednesday,
following promising early data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine
and a strong quarterly report from Goldman Sachs.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O rallied after a small-scale study
showed its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced high levels of
virus-killing antibodies. Travel-related stocks Carnival Corp CCL.N , Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd RCL.N , Marriott International MAR.O and Wynn
Resorts WYNN.O surged, as did the S&P 1500 airlines index
.SPCOMAIR .
The S&P 500 beat the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite for a
fourth straight session, a feat scored only twice since Wall
Street launched its massive recovery last March. Gains for the Nasdaq were capped by online retail giant
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , video streaming platform Netflix Inc
NFLX.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O , which slipped after
surging to record highs recently.
"The Moderna news woke everybody up again that this is not
going to last forever, and there is light at the end of the
tunnel. That is why you are seeing such a strong move today into
those economically sensitive stocks," said Tim Ghriskey, Chief
Investment Strategist Inverness Counsel in New York.
Adding to investors' enthusiasm, the Federal Reserve's Beige
Book survey showed U.S. businesses saw an uptick in activity
into the beginning of July as states eased restrictions to
contain the novel coronavirus pandemic. A raft of stimulus measures and encouraging economic data
have lifted the S&P 500 to about 5% below its record high hit in
February.
However, the United States has failed to control the
coronavirus and there is a high level of uncertainty over how
much the pandemic will affect the economy, Philadelphia Federal
Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said, as a number of U.S.
sunbelt states reported a surge in COVID-19 cases recently.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
228.47 points, or 0.86%, to 26,871.06, the S&P 500 .SPX gained
29.1 points, or 0.91%, to 3,226.62 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 61.92 points, or 0.59%, to 10,550.49.
Goldman Sachs GS.N rose after it said its trading revenue
doubled in the second quarter, driven by big swings in stock and
bond markets since March. Morgan Stanley MS.N and Bank of America BAC.N gained
ahead of their results on Thursday. The broader banking index
.SPXBK also climbed.
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N fell after warning of rising
costs later this year as Americans catch up on less urgent
surgeries halted by the coronavirus pandemic.